MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (June 9, 2003)-SGI (NYSE: SGI) today announced an agreement with The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) to work together to provide superior manufacturing industry solutions for achieving Six Sigma-quality products and processes, as well as real-time optimization (RTO) solutions to maximize the productivity of process-oriented applications.
According to terms of the agreement, SGI will receive a license to distribute a variety of problem-solving software developed by Boeing. In addition, experts in optimization analysis within Boeing Phantom Works' Mathematics and Computing Technology organization will provide consultation services in Design For Six Sigma (DFSS) integrated with multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) and real-time optimization solutions for process applications.
DFSS is an industry-recognized quality initiative with a significant return on investment in terms of creating Six Sigma-quality products and processes. The goal of MDO is to provide a more consistent, formalized process for complex system design than is found in traditional approaches, as well as to impact the product design cycle through timely performance-based design direction. DFSS with MDO provides a formal and structured approach to address the complex and often conflicting requirements faced by the manufacturing industries to arrive at better-quality designs in a faster and more cost-effective manner. The RTO solution is critical for applications such as chemical process control, reservoir modeling and aerospace trajectory design.
SGI and Boeing will offer a holistic solution that includes software, hardware and consulting services.
"It is no longer good enough to create a product that merely passes minimum requirements or to develop a product that may have the highest quality but costs significantly more than the competition," said Larry McArthur, SGI's senior director of Manufacturing Industry Marketing. "Markets are too competitive and customers are too demanding. Design for Six Sigma/MDO is an approach that can be used to dramatically impact the design process."
"Most companies understand the importance of reaching Six Sigma quality," said McArthur. "They all start with fixing the process and hit the wall at 4 to 4.5 sigma, which still presents them with 30,000 defects per million opportunities. Our solution will help them optimize their product design, treating quality as an independent variable and achieving Six Sigma quality, which produces only four defects per million opportunities. The return on investment is obvious and significant."
"We believe we have some of the best analysis capability on the planet," said Boeing Mathematics and Computing Technology Manager Daniel Pierce. "And we are excited to partner with SGI on this effort, not only because we can add a great deal of value to the solutions, but also because of the opportunities we will have to learn and improve our own processes and software."
People within the Mathematics and Computing Technology organization at Boeing Phantom Works, the company's advanced research and development unit, are experts in optimization analysis and have developed a variety of problem-solving software, including Design Explorer and SOCS (Sparsity exploiting Optimal Control and nonlinear programming), that will be part of the holistic approach to developing manufacturing industry solutions.